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Wednesday, December 29, 2004Science on a budget

For the first time in 13 years, Congress has cutthe budget of the National
Science Foundation (NSF), decreasing the federal agency's operating budget
by 1.9 percent from 2004 levels. Funded at $5.47 billion, NSF received $105
million less than it did last year, and $232 million less than the fiscal year
2005 request, despite the president's recommendation for a 3 percent increase.

"If they're going to cut the deficit, where are they going to cut?"
says Sam Rankin, chairperson for the Coalition for National Science Funding.
"I don't think it's the government against science," he says. "I
think we're just caught in the crunch."

Two major NSF areas are affected by the cuts: Research and Related Activities
(R&RA), and Education and Human Resources (EHR). R&RA, which funds basic
science research directorates and programs, lost 0.7 percent  approximately
$30.8 million. EHR, which supports many science education and workforce development
initiatives, including undergraduate and graduate education grants, and the
Math and Science Partnerships (MSP) initiative, decreased 10.4 percent 
$97.6 million. Although MSP lost approximately $60 million in funding through
NSF, the Department of Education received a 16 percent
increase to its MSP initiative. However, the function of the two initiatives
are different in scope and raising the budget of one aspect, while lowering
the other, does not fundamentally preserve the entire program (see Geotimes,
June 2004.)

Yet even with large fiscal cuts, Rankin says that each directorate has flexibility
on how and where to spend its funds. Thus, the geosciences within R&RA should
be able to maintain its current level of activity, as will other directorates
such as biology and engineering.

"There isn't a [person] in Congress who would say basic research isn't
important," Rankin says, but NSF must compete with programs such as NASA,
Veteran's Affairs, and the Housing and Urban Development program, which all
fall under the same committee. Both the Senate and the House are charged with
doling out monies to 13 separate committees, and a compromise must be made between
the two as to how much money each committee will get. Community development
and public assistance programs typically take precedence over funding science.

Although NSF's budget was cut on the whole, many programs still came out ahead,
including programs in the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction
(MREFC), such as EarthScope  a large-scale research project to understand
the North American continent. "Congress, apparently mindful of the 'queue'
of approved-but-unfunded projects, added money to the MREFC account," says
Curtis Suplee, Director of Legislative and Public Affairs for NSF. The MREFC
program received a 12.1 percent increase, with EarthScope receiving a $3.5 million
boost. Congress also appropriated $15 million to the same account to begin constructing
a new scientific ocean drilling vessel. That amount is still significantly less
than the requested amount, which was approximately $40 million, but will allow
for the initial stages of research and development.

Despite cuts to basic scientific endeavors, Suplee says that "NSF is charged
with ensuring that the nation stays at the frontier of science and engineering
research and education, and we will continue to pursue that goal with whatever
resources are available."

The budget results for other federal agencies and departments were mixed. The
Department of Energy, overseeing projects including the nuclear waste storage
facility at Yucca Mountain, received an increase over last year's budget. The
Environmental Protection Agency, however, received the first cuts to its budget
in recent years, leaving them with $8.02 billion. The U.S. Geological Survey
received $935.8 million  a $3.8-million cut to their budget, while the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was appropriated $3.94 billion,
a modest increase from last year. By far, NASA comes out the biggest winner,
receiving an $822-million increase to $16.2 billion to initiate the moon and
Mars missions, and to return space shuttles to flight.

For more information on current budget appropriations in the geosciences, go
to the American Geological Institute (which publishes Geotimes) Government
Affairs Program Web site.